Tristan's Essay

Tristan Yerkes
Mr. Salsich
English 2
20 October, 2008
Remember to Appreciate:
An Essay Discussing Appreciation in Zora Neale Hurston’s, “What it Feels Like to be Colored Me.”

Sometimes we make the hasty assumption that we should be constantly appreciating those who have shaped our lives, when instead we should be living our lives to the extent intended by our predecessors. For example, and I do not mean to offend anyone with these next ideas, I find that this approach is most useful with religion. I think that if there was a god, he or she would most likely rather we spend our Sunday mornings out and about, enjoying the lives he or she gave us. I think that a possible god would not have created life, if that life was not meant to be enjoyed. Of course, this approach does conveniently get me out of Sunday school, but I find it most logical.
Ms. Hurston has similar ideas in her essay, saying that slavery, and slavery reconstruction was a thing of the past, which had underlying ideas of how she should appreciate her ancestor’s sacrifice. Ms. Hurston appreciated her ancestors, respected her ancestors, but did not worship her ancestors as some may do. Ms. Hurston clearly said in her essay, “I am off to a flying start, and I must not halt in the stretch and look behind to weep.”(Hurston, 115) In this profound allegory, Ms. Hurston basically says that she doesn’t want to slow herself down by looking back at the past and worshipping her ancestors. Ms. Hurston says that she was raised by people whose feelings were all hurt over slavery. Since Ms. Hurston was raised in such a community, it is really quite amazing that she could emerge from such a childhood with such an astounding opinion about how to appreciate the price she paid, through her ancestors, for civilization. Ms. Hurston describes her childhood with a voice of a parent talking about a pouting baby, suggesting that her community needed to grow up, and stop feeling sorry for themselves. Ms. Hurston was barely ever daunted by discrimination, and merely thought it was just another factor in her life, and she could decide how she felt about it, not necessarily agreeing with her childhood community. Ms. Hurston, in her essay, talks about how the idea of her actions getting either double the good reaction, or double the bad reaction was just exciting for her. This attitude of not considering how people thought pigheadedly of her being different suggested that she had the rare non biased opinion that helped her formulate her excellent opinions on slavery. Some of Ms. Hurston’s fellow’s opinions of how badly African Americans were treated did nothing but wedge open the already large separating gap between black and white people.

Despite the gap between our two races, Ms. Hurston and I both appreciate without worshiping, perhaps for different things, but with the same ideas in mind. I sometimes feel that I am the only one appreciating something, or that I am the only one who appreciates something fully. When I play music for others, for example, expecting them to dance with joy at the intensity of the song, I generally find that they have responses more like, "Hey, that's great, listen to this song." Not only do I get this response a lot with music, but I also find that many will respond with lukewarm appreciation when I'm enjoying a sunset, a poem, or even a work of art. Sometimes, I feel like I should be appreciating other things more than I already am. If I look at something, or hear something that I immediately judge on how it should be appreciated, I stop and think further about how I should be appreciating it. Sometimes, I feel differently about that one thing, but most of the time I feel the same way, which leaves me wondering why my first observations are so accute. I try my very best not to worship things, but sometimes I find myself really over appreciating things that need not be. When I was young, and again, these are only my own opinions, I worshipped god every Sunday, but when I actually thought about what I was doing, I decided a better way of appreciation was necessary. I sometimes got to the point of worshipping people for their arts, when really what I should have been doing was enjoying those arts. I think this appreciation in my life helps me as well as other people get a better grip of how important everything is in the scale of things.

Appreciation plays a big role in my life, and I'm sure it played a big part in Ms. Hurston's life. This helped guide both of us, helping us decide weather to live our lives in someone's shadow, or live them in broad daylight. Either way, it is important to appreciate, and to remember, but I think worshipping is a waste of time. On a finishing note, I must say, this essay really helped me discover new things about myself.


Works Cited:
Hurston, Zora Neale. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." The Best American Essays of the Century. Atwan, Robert . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

Ty's essay # 5 :)

Ty LeVarge
Mr.Salsich
English 02
20 October, 2008

How could one appreciate life?:
An essay on how Zora Neale Hurston appreciates her life in her essay
"What it Feels Like to be Colored Me” And how I appreciate my life

Ms. Hurston is a type of person who appreciates her life, even though others around her may not want her to be around because she is a different color. No matter what anyone says, she is an upright person who can’t be knocked down easily by mere anemic words of discriminating dominance. In other words, she won’t care much of whatever anyone says about her, where those words can breakdown someone who isn't as strong as Ms. Hurston. Ms. Hurston is not only a powerful writer, but a powerful person of structure, a structure that is hard to knock down and she is still able to appreciate her life no matter what.
Ms. Hurston, no matter what happens, no matter what anyone says, no matter what anyone does, she is still headstrong and goes on with her life and continues to appreciate her life no matter what occurs around her. She appreciates being herself because she enjoys the life she has, even though she would love to have a better one, she would probably love the one she has now more than any other life she would have had. She lives in a good community that accepts her and likes having her both as a resident, and as a friend. She is also successful in life and probably has a good family, and a nice house; which seems to add to her appreciation of her life that she was given. She also describes how tourists think of her and others around her as the tourists are riding through their village. They may say things under their breath about Ms. Hurston and her neighbors and friends when she was young. However, these small phrases are unable to reach the ears beyond that form of communication; which is the advantage to the village; they are deaf to the curses and the horrible talk of others. Ms. Hurston has almost an impenetrable wall that shields her happy life from any invaders wanting to make her suffer.
TS I appreciate my life as much as possible even if something wrong happens; I learn from it and get on with life. SD Like Ms. Hurston, I also live a good life, and have a lot of friends, a lot of fun, and a lot of memories. CM During my life, I have made dozens of friends and memories that I will treasure for many years to come. CM This shows that I appreciate life and that I think that my life is pretentious since I came to Pine Point. SD Also like Ms. Hurston, I don’t bother to notice if someone was saying that I was a nonsensical white American. CM Not that this has ever happened in my life and I hope it doesn’t, but I would say something like, “Go get lost in the mountains.” and move on with my life (even though I would say something more inappropriate, this was a way of saying it without harsh language). CM This instance just proves that no matter what anyone says or does, I will continue to appreciate my life. SD My main goal in appreciating my life is to simply make the best of it and to live life to its fullest. CM No matter if anything bad happens or even if anything good happens, I will stare at it for a bit and cast it to the side like walking through brush in the woods. CM The point of one being able to appreciate life is to appreciate the opportunity and to live life to its fullest; maybe even beyond the limit. CS In order for one to not concern themselves about any negative activities around them, they must appreciate life and live it to its fullest to be blind to those activities unless necessary.
TS My appreciation of life is the same if not similar as Ms. Hurston’s appreciation of her essay. CM We both seem to appreciate life not just because we live good lives, but also that we wish to live life to its best. CM This shows a powerful connection of similarities between Ms. Hurston and I which shows that more than one person can have the same appreciation of life. CS A great message for readers to pass on is to not worry about anything that may seem to change your liking of life but to worry about what may enhance your life.

Kyle's 5th Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 02
20 October 2008
Color and Kindness:
A comparison between preferences of self.

There are so many colored people who were and still are loved by millions in the world such as Oprah, Coby Bryant, Bill Cosby, and Martin Luther King Jr. and many of them aren’t loved because they’re colored, but because of their personalities and what they have taught us. Zora Neale Hurst decides that the thing she likes most about herself is that she is colored and she elucidates several times that she’s not ashamed to be colored. I too am proud that I’m colored, but on the other hand I am also proud at the amounts of kindness I can show to a classmate, to friends, to family, and even to strangers. I believe that my color shouldn’t be a con for me, if anything it should be a plus to my character, and a plus to my personality,and only my abilities should be the deciding factor on what kind of person I am.

I think that I am a very nice, kind, sincere, loving friend because I am told that many times, and personally I love to be viewed in such a way and not viewed as “the black kid”. The color of my skin should certainly not be what people judge me by. The color of my skin has no control over my personality, my abilities, or my predilections. I should be viewed as a colorless human as everyone else should, because the only purpose that color serves is diversity. I think that out of my classmates I can be one of the most sympathetic when I need to be. I believe that this is why some people respect my input or ideas because they know that I really care about what happens to them and know that I want to give them genuine advice. However, if my chocolate skin has anything to do with my personality then it should only be a reminder of just how sweet I can be. I also really value kindness because so many good things can come of it. When I do domeone a kindness I feel like a better person afterwards, and thats a great feeling. Another pro about kindness is the karma you may receive, which can be anything from finding a dollar on the ground to winning the lottery. In short I love my kindness most about myself because that is what people choose to judge me by.

Similar to me Ms. Hurston also had something she liked about herself, which was the color of her skin. Ms. Hurston was not ashamed or afraid that she was black. She even states “I am not tragically colored. There is no sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all.” (Hurston 115). She did not care what people thought about her if they judged her by her skin. Ms. Hurston seemed more shocked that anyone could deny her presence. “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonished me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.” (Hurston 118). Ms. Hurston felt no different than an ordinary person. She could sing and dance and ask questions to any white person just as easily as she could to a colored. She even states in the book “I remember the very day that I became colored” and this astonishes me because before she went to Jacksonville she felt normal, she felt like a regular person, she felt that no color could define her, as it should be.

As I have said before there are many famous African Americans who were loved and judged by what they shared with the world. Ms. Hurston felt that she had a lot to give and share with the world, but she never got the opportunity to. I however, will my kindness with everyone so that our world may become a tiny bit more of a better place. If there are people who still hold prejudices than let them mull over the misapprehensions they have made and if they still do not see the truth then pray, pray that they’ll understand one day. (not meant to offend anyone if they don’t believe in prayer)


Key
Purple-Purposeful Repitition
Red-FAST Words

Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." The Best American Essays of the Century. ED. Robert Atwan. Boston:Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

Another Essay by Teddy

10/7/08

Teddy Purnell

Mr.Salsich

Room 2

We Win Some, We Lose Some

An Essay About the Gains and Losses in “Sonny's Blues” and “Winter Dreams”

In both “Sonny's Blues” and “Winter Dreams”, there are parts in which the protagonist either gains or looses something. In both “Sonny's Blues” and “Winter Dreams”, there are many things that the protagonists care about, but the more things they care about, the more they have to loose. In both “Sonny's Blues” and “Winter Dreams”, the main character must learn to accept their losses and revere their gains. “Sonny's Blues” has more examples of gains and losses than in “Winter Dreams”, however.

Sonny, the main character in “Sonny's Blues”, looses many things, but gains even more. In the beginning of the story, he has already lost himself due to heroin. His brother mails him letters while he is in jail for peddling heroin. Other than his brother, he has lost all contact with his family-he has even lost contact with his best friend. Eventually, he gets over his addiction and gets released from jail. He doesn't meet his friend again, but he does meet his brother, and they have a talk about what he wants to do for a career. He tell his brother that he wants to be a musician, much to his brothers dismay. He gains quite a bit of respect from his brother when he takes him to a local bar that he is going to play in and his brother hears him play. His music is so good that a man named Creole says,”you got a real musician in your family” to Sonny's brother. His brother notices that everyone in the bar knows Sonny. Through a series of losses and gains, Sonny gets his life back on track, which is the opposite of what happens to Dexter Green in “Winter Dreams”.

In “Winter Dreams”, Dexter Green's losses outweigh his gains. First he looses Judy, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He thought he was going to marry her, but he lost her. He gave up on having her, and didn't see her for an extended period of time, which makes him very distressed,”Men like Dexter Green do not cry easily; his tears and the language explaining them therefore point either to melodrama or to a complex significance”, writes Clinton S. Burhans , the author of “Magnificently Attune to Life”: The Value of ‘‘Winter Dreams’’. Later on in the story, he meets Irene, a very pretty woman that he starts dating. After a few months, Dexter gets engaged to Irene. They are to be wed three months later. Just when he thought his life was getting better, guess who popped back into his life. That's right, Judy. He runs into Judy, they get talking, and Dexter says that they cannot be together anymore, the only difference from last time they saw each other is-she loves him back now. This is how Dexter's life goes from great, to good, to atrocious(purposeful repetition).

Both of these stories have an important lesson in life, we gain some, we lose some, life isn't perfect. The protagonists learn this the hard way: through experience. Although they had to be the ones to find out for themselves, they show us what they learned in the form of these stories. No matter how hard you try, something is bound to go wrong at one point or another.

Tristan's Essay

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 02

October 7, 2008

Winter Blues

An Essay on Loss and Gain in Winter Dreams and Sonny’s Blues

Both Sonny’s Blues and Winter Dreams are stories of gain accumulated by application of loss. Things aren’t always gained through loss, but Sonny’s Blues and Winter Dreams are two perfect examples of gaining from loss. One could say that whenever one experienced loss and suffering, one did gain a lesson, which is expressed in the quote, “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” Throughout both Sonny’s Blues, and Winter Dreams, Dexter and Sonny gained many lessons from what didn’t kill them.

Sonny was almost killed by his addiction to heroin, rebellious behavior, and the bad crowd he chose to be around, but instead he took the consequential loss and channeled it into his music to let loose the inferno built up inside him. The catalyst to most of Sonny’s trouble with life was his addiction to heroin, which got him arrested, and made him spend time in rehabilitation. Despite the fact that rehab appeared to have had no effect upon him, Sonny started to realize that if he kept his behavior up, he would continue to get in trouble. This realization may not have made Sonny change his behavior, but it got the ball rolling towards his subconscious ultimate goal of becoming a better person. Sonny’s addiction to heroin also helped him to build up the internal storm which would drive him towards finding a way of letting it out, the heroin may have been a temporary way for Sonny to let out the storm, but ultimately it just popped the pustule that needed to be drained. Throughout Sonny’s Blues, Sonny changed behavior from a happy boy with the winter dream of becoming a jazz musician to a young man who wanted nothing but to play the piano and do heroin, to a thoughtful man who just wanted to be close with his brother, each change of character was triggered by some event or thought in Sonny’s life, and changed Sonny’s life in turn. In the first half of Sonny’s Blues, Sonny had obsessive behavior in regard to the piano, which eventually got him kicked out of the house he was currently living in. Even here, we start to see loss and gain as Sonny’s behavior gets him kicked out of the house, but also helps him counteract his feelings with both heroin and piano, starting to find a compromise, on the rise to becoming completely clean. As Sonny becomes more thoughtful, this behavior helps him really think about how he should be behaving, how he should be dealing with his emotions. While Sonny is in the process of building the cocoon he would soon find himself trapped in, he makes the mistake of hanging around the wrong group of people, this mistake most likely led to a large amount of his problems, and also probably led to the salvation of music as an emotional outlet. This shows how he loses by wasting so much time in rehab, getting kicked out of his house, and almost loses his brother, but gains a creative outlet for his emotions. Sonny’s losses may seem great, almost to the point of ruining his life, but what he gained in the end made up for his mistakes, and additionally set him on the road towards success.

Dexter Green had similar experiences as Sonny, maybe not quite as risky, but in essence, he had the same experience of loss for gain, but in his case, Dexter loses Judy basically twice in his life, making his loss all the more painful. Dexter does earn success, money, and power throughout Winter Dreams, but he also doesn’t get the woman of his dreams. Judy treats Dexter horribly throughout his life, but Dexter maintains his love for her even after becoming engaged with another woman. This shows that even after Dexter gains money, power, and a wife, the only thing he thinks about is that he hasn’t gained the woman he loves. Even after it becomes painfully apparent that Judy won’t take Dexter, his remaining love still forces him to dream about Judy, these winter dreams that he continues to cherish create a happy protective bubble around him, only really enjoying Judy’s company when he is left alone to think about her. Even after the loss of Judy, he gains satisfaction from her memories. In the second half of Winter Dreams, Dexter discovers that Judy is married, and has changed to the point of him not loving her any more, but after confronting her, Dexter learns that she now loves him. This rediscovery of Judy makes further enjoyment of Dexter’s prized memories impossible, “When Devlin destroys this imaginative present, Dexter finally and forever loses not only Judy and his love for her but also his ability to keep alive in his imagination the best part of his youth and its winter dreams.” (____) From this loss of everything that made him happy, Dexter gains, or rather avoids, the experience of watching Judy waste away in front of him. Even though Dexter lost having Judy truly in his life, he did gain happiness from his winter dreams of her, and the luxury of preserving that fallacy for as long as he could.

Dexter and Sonny both went through life-changing experiences in relation to what they lost and gained, but their loss was always coupled with their gain. One may say that throughout both of the protagonist’s stories, what didn’t kill them made them stronger, with their strength feeding off of their loss. Like a muscle being torn, and growing back, Sonny and Dexter’s emotions were being tested, and then returning with even more willpower. Some may say that both Sonny and Dexter would have been better off without the whole ordeals, but the events in their lives made them who they are, and to that, there is no argument.

Works Cited

"'Magnificently Attuned to Life': the Value of 'Winter Dreams'" www.enotes.com 4 October, 2008
http://www.enotes.com/winter-dreams/magnificently-attune-life-value-winter-

Ty's 4th essay

Ty LeVarge
Mr. Salsich
English 02
06 October, 2008


Could there be a gain from a loss?

Is it possible to have a gain from a loss for someone who messed up their lives; and is the gain something other than learning from your mistakes? I think that having a gain out of a loss is as possible as catching a fish and that it is very possible to receive a good out of a bad. This exists both in "Sonny’s Blues", and "Winter Dreams". Several positives that come out of the bad can appear in everyday life as well.

First, I will start with "Sonny’s Blues" where the title gives away the fact that someone could make gains from losses. Sonny lost control of himself at the start of Sonny’s Blues by becoming addicted to heroin which represents a major loss for him. He messed up his life because of heroin and that messed up his life more than before, so he paid a hefty price for it. Through using heroin, he also messed up his mental health and he wasn’t thinking straight and ruined his life that way as well. Another loss in Sonny’s Blues is the narrator’s character that loses the brother he once knew. He only sees the brother who has been on drugs and in all sorts of trouble; not the one he remembers from the past. Sonny in the past was like a normal person, no drugs, no fights, a good and healthy life. That’s the brother the narrator remembers from the old days. However, he receives a gift from all of the bad things that he chose to do and went through during his life. At the end of the prodigious story, he plays his blues at a local nightclub along with some of his old friends. He also seems to have fulfilled one of his dreams which is to play the piano and to become a pianist. Sonny’s Blues overall has some interesting ups from downs all around and is sure to pass on the message that you get gains from losses and that it passes the message on to other readers as well.

As in "Sonny’s Blues", "Winter Dreams" had a lot of losses but also a few gains from them as well. The first great loss was when Dexter lost Judy’s love which was a big deal for Dexter because he loved Judy but couldn’t accept love back. As stated in Ms. Burhans’ essay, “Men like Dexter don’t cry” is saying that he doesn’t physically cry, but I think that he does cry mentally or in the inside of his heart. Through all of the things that he has been through, all of the things he has had in his possession, and all of the things he has seen, he cries mainly because the one he loves turns on him. After Judy left Dexter, Dexter lost all sense of love within his heart. His engagement with Judy was over and so was his with Irene. After his heart broke he just decided to give up on being burdensome to get a wife or to even be in love. Although, by making the sacrifice of not loving someone, he was able to gain emotional freedom to his mind and to reduce the stress he was feeling. Through joining the army, he was able to conciliate this emotional freedom and to live without fear of loss from love, live without worry of love, and to live without missing or feeling sad of any he loved. He is now free of any thoughts of Judy or anyone else he loved so he didn’t get emotional about it. Winter Dreams is basically a story of love, loss, and learning from them and the readers of this story should take it seriously.

Winter Dreams and Sonny’s Blues are related very similarly in terms of Losses and gains and they should be respected as so. Sonny’s Blues has a lot more losses that are happening in the world right now and are more emotional because it’s about a brother who gets addicted to heroin and can’t break free. Winter Dreams is still of sadness and loss but isn’t as powerful with the losses within it as Sonny’s Blues has within it. Both Sonny’s Blues and Winter Dreams are both emotional and sad stories, but whether one is more powerful than the other does not matter.


Works Cited“‘Magnificently Attune to Life’: The Value of ‘Winter Dreams’” http://www.enotes.com/winter-dreams/magnificently-attune-life-value-winter-dreams Accesed 2 October 2008

Kyle's Fourth Essay (I thought it was the third)

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 02
4 October 2008

“The Gamble of life”:
The losses and gains in “Winter Dreams” and “Sonny’s Blues”

TS: People can have great gains, like winning the lottery, or have great losses, like the death of a loved one, throughout their lives. SD: But in the stories “Winter Dreams” and “Sonny’s Blues” there was a great loss for Dexter and a great gain for Sonny. CM: Sonny had a greater gain than Dexter, having finally had found his place in the world. CM: Dexter, however lost something of more importance than Sonny had lost, his dream of loving a special someone.

TS: Dexter had many gains; conversely, they pale in comparison to Sonny’s greatest achievement of finding his place in the world. SD: Dexter had many small victories, like having his own business and having his own “glittering things”, but Sonny didn’t care about that kind of life; he simply wished to have his own place in the world. CM: Sonny’s greatest wish was for himself to find a place where everyone accepts him and he can be himself and he made that dream come true. CM: Dexter wasn’t as fortunate. He may have had many small successes, but they were only the minor pretensions of his “Winter Dreams”. SD: When Sonny had finally found his place at the night club he must have felt overwhelmed with joy, but Dexter never felt this immense happiness. CM: He only felt the small ripples of joy instead of the swelling ocean of happiness. SD: Sonny’s dream may have been easier to fulfill because he only had that one dream that he pursued. CM: He didn’t have any other dreams that he really focused on besides playing his music and trying to get his brother and others to accept him. CM: Dexter had many dreams of being rich and owning expensive things and he focused on all of them until he met Judy again years later. CS: However, Dexter had many small moments of joy, but in contrast to fulfilling your greatest joy, like Sonny did, they didn’t really matter to him.

TS: In consequence to Dexter not having made his aspiration of keeping Judy Jones as he once saw her in his memory, he had gained a greater loss than Sonny had ever experienced. SD: The only reason Sonny fell into the dark web of addiction was because his greatest ambition didn’t come true at first. CM: Because Sonny felt that no one saw him for himself, Sonny gave up music and turned to drugs to escape his emotions of not being understood. CM: However, Sonny was able to get help and eventually continued on making his dream come true. SD: Dexter did not have the luxury of being able to “get help” or even try to keep chasing after his dream. CM: There wasn’t any help available for his problem because once he had lost his image of Judy, he had lost their memories together, the times they shared, the beauty he wanted to remember forever, the very essence of why he fell in love with her. CM: “These had been basis of his love for her-not to her reflection of eternal youth or beauty but their physical and perishable realities” (Burhans). The way you picture someone cannot not be changed as easily as trying to get others to accept you. SD: Sonny never really had any small achievements, but he never had a great loss either. CM: He only went through small trials like trying to get his brother to listen and finding a life involved with music. CM: He never felt what it was like to have a loved one never care about you, although he may have felt that way. CS: As a result of Dexter having a great loss and Sonny having small losses I have concluded that Dexter has suffered greater sorrow than Sonny had.

TS: Dexter’s loss and Sonny’s gain may seem like big deals to them, but in reality they’re everyday occurrences. SD: Thousands of people have gotten their hearts broken and thousands have had trouble finding their places in the world. CM: These are all ordinary things that happen all around the world. CM: Life has many things to take away from you and it has many things to give you, but you have to accept any problem or gift that comes your way and just live life.

Key
Yellow=Appositives
Green=Fast Words
Bold=Loose Sentences
Purple=Purposeful Repetition








Works Cited
“‘Magnificently Attune to Life’: The Value of ‘Winter Dreams’” enotes.com 4 October2008
http://www.enotes.com/winter-dreams/magnificently-attune-life-value-winter-dreams.